Indelible
by brokenbottleaurora
Summary: "I say we do it! Let's all get tattoos." - "All of us?" Peter squeaked. - "Think of it as a, uh, bonding experience."


Sirius climbed quietly through the portrait hole, stuffing James' invisibility cloak under his arm. This was their last opportunity to pull a back-to-school prank on Dumbledore, and, after tonight's preparations, he was sure this one would finally succeed. Seventh year would be their best one yet.

As he started toward the boy's stairs, he heard gasps from a group of couches in the far corner of the common room.

"_Lily_, I can't believe you did that!"

"Did it hurt?"

"God, it's just like Janis Joplin's. That's so cool."

"What did your parents say?"

Sirius crouched and silently crept over to get a better look. He peeked over the top of a worn rust-colored couch and saw a group of older Gryffindor girls sitting on cushions on the floor, gathered around Lily Evans. She had her Oxford unbuttoned a bit, the left side pulled back and exposing the swell of her breast and part of her bra. Just past the edge of the cup, Sirius could make out a small black peace sign.

"It's not all that big, so it didn't hurt terribly," she was saying. "And I haven't told my parents yet—I'll at least wait until I've graduated and moved out. I just hope Petunia doesn't see it and rat me out."

Marlene McKinnon reached out and lightly touched the symbol. "It _does _look rad. Still, I don't think I'd want to spend very long getting stabbed repeatedly by a needle."

"Or hang out in one of those creepy places," Charlotte Dunbar sniffed.

Lily rolled her eyes at her friends. "I was there for an hour tops. I just walked in, picked the design off the wall, told the guy where I wanted it, and then he did it. It was all pretty chill."

After his evening of surveillance, Sirius couldn't hold this position much longer. He fought the cramping in his legs for a few more moments, hoping he'd hear more about Lily's adventure, but the girls quickly turned to new topics. Of course they wondered how the Marauders were planning to prank Dumbledore, but he didn't hang around to hear their guesses. He snuck over to the stairs, dashed up to his dorm room, and flung the door open.

"Gentlemen, do I have news for you!"

The bang of the door against the stone wall caused his friends to flinch.

"For Merlin's sake, Sirius," James muttered under his breath, swiping at the ink spilled across his Potions essay, "nothing is that important."

"Oh really? Not even a juicy little tidbit about a certain Head Girl and her new tattoo?"

James froze. "Her _what_?"

"Yep," Sirius said with a pop.

With practiced movements, the four friends coalesced around Sirius' bed as he sat back and prepared to spill the beans.

Their other roommate, Kingsley, chose that moment to walk into the room. The Marauders gathered around one of their beds, clearly planning something, was a familiar and foreboding sight. Before they could even offer to explain, he held up a hand. "Whatever it is, I don't want to know. Give me ten seconds and I'll be out of here."

He gathered his things quickly as the Marauders watched in awkward silence. On his way out of the room he muttered under his breath, "Thank Merlin the sixth years have a spare bed."

"Poor guy," Peter said.

"Shame he didn't take a shine to the reckless rule breaking of our younger years," Remus agreed.

"Forget him! I want to know about Lily!"

Sirius smirked and tossed the invisibility cloak back to James. "I was sneaking into the common room and heard her talking about it with a bunch of the girls. Remember Janis Joplin's cover of Rolling Stone? She's got one like her."

"I think we would have seen it on her wrist sometime in the past two days."

"No, not that one. The heart, the one on her breast! Evans had her shirt pulled aside—"

James growled and looked ready to lunge for Sirius' throat. "You were looking at Lily's chest?"

"Down boy," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "There's nothing there that appeals to me. Now do you want to hear my plan on how to use this information or not?"

James sat back, grumbling.

"You have a plan?" Peter asked dubiously.

"Of course! All the girls clearly thought Evans' tattoo was cool. I think Prongs should get one to impress Evans."

A beat of silence passed.

"That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard," Remus said.

"But it would totally work!" Sirius cried.

"Probably so. It's still idiotic."

James sat stock still, a pensive expression on his face.

"See? I think you've broken him with how stupid your idea is."

"Shut up, he's just thinking. Don't you know his thinking face by now?"

"Of course I do, but it never lasts this long."

"Cool your claws, Moony. Let the man think in peace."

James began nodding slowly. "Yeah? Yeah. I think that could actually work."

Remus' eyes bulged. "You're not serious?" As soon as he realized what he'd said, he looked over to Sirius and pointed a finger. "Don't even think about it, Padfoot."

James looked over at a pouting Sirius. "I say we do it. Let's _all _get tattoos."

"All of us?" Peter squeaked.

"Think of it as a, uh, bonding experience, Wormtail."

A grin stretched across Sirius' face. "Yeah. Nothing like a good adventure to start off the year right."

"Start off the year?" James asked. "I was thinking we could go on a Hogsmeade weekend, but those don't start until October."

Sirius shook his head violently. "No, no, no, you've got to get one as soon as possible! You have to make Evans think you got this on your own. She'll be doubly impressed if she doesn't know you were trying to impress her."

"I think I'm getting a headache," Remus muttered.

"Alright, Pads, this is your scheme," James said. "Where and when are we going? How are we getting there?"

"Tomorrow's Friday. That night, we'll take the tunnel to the Honeyduke's cellar and Apparate to London from there. I bet there's a tattoo parlor on every corner when you get to the right part of the city."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "And exactly what part of muggle London would that be, Padfoot?"

"I dunno. The dodgy end?"

"There's probably some in Camden," Peter piped up. "Though Mum always says it's full of bloody hippies and that I should stay away from there."

James snapped his fingers and said with a grin, "Then that's exactly where we'll start!"

* * *

**MC4A Challenge Block**

**Stacked With:** SoC; Cluster; FPC; SIN; PP; Fence; ER; AV; Fall Bingo

**Individual Challenges:** Short Jog (Y); Gryffindor MC (x5); Mastermind MC; Minerva's Migraine (Y); True Colors; More Than England (Y); Marauder Tales; Two Cakes; Clowder (Y); Themes & Things (Friendship); Themes & Things B (Surprise); Themes & Things C (Pillow); Themes & Things D (Couch)

**Representation:** Lily Got a Tattoo; Marauders Plotting

**Bonus Challenges: **Queen Bee; Second Verse (Bechdel Test; For the Vine); Chorus (Peddling Pots; Larger than Life; Creature Feature)

**Tertiary Bonus Challenges:** N/A

**Space Address (Prompt): **3D (School)

**Word Count:** 1093


End file.
